Hudson River search for missing boaters to resume Saturday morning

By PAULA ANN MITCHELL

Friday, December 21, 2012

HYDE PARK, N.Y. -- Emergency responders searched both the Hudson River and nearby land on Friday for two Dutchess County men who went missing after their canoe capsized in the river near the Rodgers Point Boat Club.

The search came up empty and was called off at dusk. It was to resume Saturday morning.

Three men took the 14-foot canoe onto the river about 11:30 p.m. Thursday and held onto the overturned craft after the accident, said Hyde Park Police Chief Eric Paolilli. One of the men, Michael Maurer, 29, of Hyde Park, eventually swam to the shore and went for help, Paolilli said.

The police chief identified the two missing men as Barrett Raymond, 31, of Hyde Park, and Baylin Coddington, 26, of Millbrook.

Maurer made it to shore shortly after 1:30 a.m. and walked about half a mile to the Ledges and Royal Crest apartment complex off Albany Post Road, where he began knocking on doors, looking for help, Paolilli said.

Once authorities were notified, the chief said, "we immediately, within minutes, started the land and water search.

"A helicopter was used this morning after the (rainy and windy) weather broke," Paolilli said Friday afternoon, "and the (U.S.) Coast Guard happened to be steaming up the Hudson (in a cutter ship). They were already on their way."

Area fire departments also were dispatched, and emergency workers continued to look for the two missing men on both land and water, Paolilli said.

"That's because one person had made it out of the water, and there was a chance that someone else did and had become incapacitated," the chief said.

Paolilli said none of the men was wearing a flotation device and that police were investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the accident.

The water temperature in the river was about 48 degrees midday Friday, Paolilli said.

"It obviously is not (looking good)," the chief said. "But the Coast Guard told us the survivability could run up to 8˝ hours. We're going to conduct this as a rescue mission until we just have nowhere else to look."

Paolilli said Maurer was being treated at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie. He did not know if Maurer was admitted.